Strange things start happening when a 61-year-old Jewish cowboy with a wicked sense of humour decides to run for governor of Texas. Ever since Kinky Friedman, hitherto best known as a tongue-in-cheek country singer and semi-autobiographical mystery novelist, threw his hat in the ring 18 months ago and declared his ruggedly independent candidacy, politics in the Lone Star State have undergone a remarkable transformation. Mostly, they've got a lot more fun. Friedman has stayed true to the opening battle cry of his campaign - "Why the hell not?" - giving the whole system a jolt of reckless possibility. The joke is on everyone: career politicians, corporate lobbyists, Christian fundamentalists, liberals, moralists and the numerous friends and foes of George Bush. Friedman, with his dry, gravelly voice and impeccable timing born of years on the stand-up comedy circuit, unfailingly skewers them all. ... http://news.independent.co.uk

The US is not winning in Iraq and will not be able to stay the course in the long-term, a US state department insider has said. Former intelligence official Wayne White told the BBC that violence in Iraq was "getting worse". A senior US state department official earlier said that the US has shown "arrogance and stupidity" in Iraq. But the department distanced itself from the comments, saying Mr Fernandez had been mistranslated. 'We're not winning' Mr White was the head of the state department's Iraq intelligence section until last year. He told the BBC that the US position in Iraq was untenable. "The effort can't be sustained over the long haul, and so we can't stay a course, I think, that requires years and years more." He said: "We're not winning. It's apparent...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6075424.stm

Halliburton Co. watched third-quarter net income rise 22 percent, thanks in part to fewer disruptions from hurricanes, which beset the oil industry last year. The Houston-based oilfield services conglomerate Sunday posted $611 million, or 58 cents per share, in net income for the June-September quarter, including a $4 million charge from discontinued operations. compares to $499 million, or 48 cents a share, for the same period last year, including a $7 million boost from discontinued operations.Third-quarter revenue rose 19 percent to $5.8 billion.The results beat the average Wall Street analyst projection of 54 cents a share in earnings on revenue of $5.52 billion, according to Thomson Financial.The revenue increase was largely attributable to its energy services group, which posted record revenue of $3.4 billion, up 31 percent year-over-year....http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/4279402.html

More than half a billion dollars earmarked to fight the insurgency in Iraq was stolen by people the U.S. had entrusted to run the country's Ministry of Defense before the 2005 elections, according to Iraqi investigators. Iraq's former minister of finance says coalition members like the U.S. and Britain are doing little to help recover the money or catch suspects, most of whom fled the country. The 60 Minutes investigation also turned up audio recordings of a suspect who seems to be discussing the transfer of $45 million to the account of a top political adviser to the interim defense minister. Correspondent Steve Kroft reports on this mother of all heists. "We have not been given any serious, official support from either the United States or the U.K. or any of the surrounding Arab countries,”" says Ali Allawi, who was confronted with the missing funds when he took over as Iraq’s finance minister last year. ...http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/10/19/60minutes/main2109200.shtml

A judge dismissed a small-claims court case filed by a Muslim woman after she refused to remove her veil when she testified. Ginnnah Muhammad, 42, wore a niqab a scarf and veil that cover her head and face, leaving only the eyes visible during a court hearing this month in Hamtramck, a city surrounded by Detroit. She was contesting a $2,750 charge from a rental-car company. District Judge Paul Paruk told her he needed to see her face to judge her truthfulness and gave her a choice: take off the veil while testifying or have the case dismissed. She kept it on. "I just feel so sad," Muhammad told the Detroit Free Press for Sunday's edition. "… I didn't feel like the court recognized me as a person that needed justice. I just feel I can't trust the court." ...http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2598070

A company headed by President Bush's brother and partly owned by his parents is benefiting from Republican connections and federal dollars targeted for economically disadvantaged students under the No Child Left Behind Act.With investments from his parents, George H.W. and Barbara Bush, and other backers, Neil Bush's company, Ignite! Learning, has placed its products in 40 U.S. school districts and now plans to market internationally. At least 13 U.S. school districts have used federal funds available through the president's signature education reform, the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, to buy Ignite's portable learning centers at $3,800 apiece.The law provides federal funds to help school districts better serve disadvantaged students and improve their performance, especially in reading and math....http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-ignite22oct22,0,4402778.story